Abstract
Based on qualitative research and on the perspective of gender theory, this study aims to identify and analyze the views health professionals working in a multidisciplinary team in oncology have of the care provided to male cancer patients. Ten health professionals that make up a multidisciplinary team at a cancer hospital in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, were interviewed. The results indicate that, to the respondents, men are a resistant, hard-to-work-with audience, requiring a different type of management than that provided to women. The biological dimension and the socialization process were singled out as factors that contribute to this gap. It was further observed that the health professionals’ discourses are also crossed by gender stereotypes. Greater emphasis was placed on women's needs and on the non-recognition of men as subjects of health and welfare action policies. It is necessary to include the masculinity topic in the oncology health service discussion agenda, favoring a participatory construction of strategies that enable the recognition of men's needs and ensure health practices guided by the principle of comprehensiveness.
Keywords
cancer; gender; men's health; care